Reflecting on the SUSI Virtual Alumni Program
Written by Mariama Sidibe, FIUTS Education Programs Assistant
The Study of the U.S. Institutes (SUSI) is a program of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and hosts student leaders coming from around the world. These impressive scholars are hosted within American academic institutions for 5 to 6 weeks where they brainstorm short term projects of change that they will implement within their home communities.
Each year FIUTS hosts two SUSI cohorts, bringing in leaders who not only aim to impact their communities with community projects, but also end up becoming a part of the FIUTS community through their relationships with host families, University of Washington student ambassadors, and the FIUTS staff. Due to the pandemic we were not able to host SUSI students over the past year, but wanted to recognize their contributions through virtual alumni sessions. Between August 2020 through January 2021, FIUTS hosted six virtual meetings with our powerful SUSI to support our SUSI alumni in their community engagement.
Our first session, in August, was a general introductory session at which participants could get to know one another and connect in small breakout groups to meet new people across cohorts. The subsequent five session each featured guest speakers, the majority of whom were alumni themselves, to share their current work and accomplishments and lead discussions on a variety of themes.
A screenshot from Chai’s inspiring presentation about effective community engagement.
Our September virtual session on the topic of How to Make a Difference in the Face of Systemic Barriers featured three alumni speakers: Chaitanya (Chai) Suraj Mamidi, Teddy Has and Zenisha Gonsalves. Zenisha Gonsalves was a participant of the 2014 SUSI on Journalism and New Media, and her creative writing work has earned her an award for the ToTo Award in Creative Writing. During the session, Zenisha discussed her ongoing awareness work for the conservation of India’s Mollem National Park. Teddy and Chai were participants in the 2019 SUSI on Youth, Education and Closing the Skills Gap. Chai, an aspiring conservationist also from India, centered his presentation on how to actively navigate through social barriers when engaging in community projects. Teddy’s leadership in raising awareness of sexual violence on his campus in Indonesia inspired his presentation on how to successfully collaborate when advocating for victims of sexual assault.
Participants and staff listen to Rafael Sizane begin his presentation at the October session with a beautiful and hopeful song.
The theme of our October session was Adapting Community Projects in Response to Changing Circumstances. A timely subject in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, we featured two SUSI alumni from Mozambique who are actively contributing to their communities despite unique circumstances. Rafael Sizane, an English teacher and talented musician, shared about the adaptability required of the Entertainment industry in these uncertain times. Abderval Vocal Group, the acapella group which Rafael belongs to, has had to shift performances to a digital format and raise funds to share their art with the community. Ilka Saide, a social and community psychologist, spoke about the strategies she has used to continue empowering women within rural communities despite school closures.
Screenshot of some of the participants in the November session on “Creating Virtual Projects”
In the November session, Creating Virtual Projects, alumni featured speaker Medha Kohli spoke about the projects that she has taken part in since the pandemic started. Kohli was a participant in our 2014 SUSI on Journalism and New Media and since her participation in SUSI she has explored the education sector through a variety of jobs within NGOs and Start-Ups. Through the 5-week writing workshop, ‘Writing Through Crisis’, Kohli collected the work of 25 youth who participated in narrative writing exercises. Narrative writing, inspired from “narrative therapy”, is a technique Kohli used to help the participants of her program empower themselves by shifting the narrative through writing.
During the December session, on Working Effectively with Diverse Stakeholders, our alumni speakers shared strategies for balancing the interests of Stakeholders. Chamanie Nanayakkara, a participant of the 2014 SUSI on Journalism and New Media, led a presentation which outlined the ways one should get to know stakeholders and appeal to them on not only a professional, but also a personal level. While her tips have been especially relevant to her work in Media Advocacy, Nanayakkara’s tips are relevant to anyone implementing community projects that impact various communities. Brian Nkala, an alumnus of the 2017 SUSI on Civic Engagement , shared his Experience Timeline of working with diverse communities. In his presentation, Nkala highlighted how working with diverse stakeholders increases the creativity, inclusivity and problem solving capacity of an organization.
As part of our conversation, we listened to a radio piece created for RadioActive on combatting disinformation spreading on TikTok.
In the final SUSI session, on the theme of Promoting Media Literacy and Countering Disinformation, we invited guest panelists from KUOW RadioActive Youth Media and the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public to share useful information with our SUSI alumni. Jevin West, discussed the ways in which the Center for an Informed Public at the UW combats misinformation through research, community engagement, education and policy. Since launching in 2019, the center has worked with a variety of stakeholders to promote the accessibility of media literacy. Our KUOW panelists, Kelsey Kupferer and Jadenne Radoc Cabahug, shared how KUOW RadioActive Youth Media journalists have been combatting disinformation on social media platforms such as TikTok and twitter (you can listen to the radio piece that Jadenne created on this here.)
As a facilitator for the SUSI program and an assistant of the Educations Programs team at FIUTS, these sessions have allowed me to reconnect with past participants and gain insights for future community engagement. Hosting these sessions allowed SUSI alumni to continue their civic engagement education and share what they have learned since completing the program. Our SUSI family is a diverse community of change makers who are actively working to empower their communities despite these challenging times. I recommend taking the time to read more about the work of our incredible SUSI and other Visiting Programs alumni.
FIUTS is grateful to our partners at Meridian International Center and to the U.S. Department of State for their support of the 2020-2021 SUSI Virtual Alumni Program. We look forward to future opportunities to connect with SUSI alumni and amplify their incredible impact around the world.
The SUSI program is funded by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. FIUTS SUSI programs are produced in partnership with Meridian International Center.
SUSI programs promote a better understanding of the people, institutions, and culture of the United States among international students, teachers, and scholars. Study of the U.S. Institutes (SUSIs) are short-term academic programs for groups of undergraduate leaders, educators, and scholars from around the world. Hosted by academic institutions throughout the United States, these 5- to 6-week Institutes include an intensive academic residency and an integrated educational study tour. Extracurricular cultural and community activities help to broaden the participants’ understanding of U.S. society. Learn more about SUSI programs here.